27 August 2008

Sahara Grille

Mediterranean food is notoriously vegetarian-friendly. This regional diet is praised for its health benefits as it involves fresh vegetables and copious quantities of olive oil alongside a pile of dining options for all makes and models of vegetarians. This veggie-centric approach to dining is evident at the Sahara Grille in Canton.

The starter is pita bread is served with herbed olive oil, highlighting the region's affinity for the healthful fat. The pita bread is also useful for scooping up some of the appetizers, such as the hummus. The hummus comes in two sizes with the option of adding pine nuts.

We sampled a few other starters. The cheese pie (often called tiropita in Greek restaurants) features a soft, white Farmer's cheese inside a buttery shell. They are a savory delight. The other starter (pictured above) isn't a Mediterranean tradition, but it was also quite good. The avocado egg rolls were crunchy, and they were filled with my favorite fatty vegetable, served with a tamarind sauce on the side that gives the rolls an added tanginess.

I was a little less impressed with the falafel sandwich. Sahara Grille offers a rolled pita with lettuce and tomato with pieces of falafel laden with tahini sauce. The sandwich was exceptionally dry. It might hace benefitted from the addition of more tomato or tahini. The falafel was also not the best. It was flavorful, but it also could have been improved through the addition of more seasoning.

However, I will now praise Sahara Grille for my favorite practice--labeling vegetarian items on the menu. This makes it easy for you to avoid the falafel sandwich while still maintaining plenty of main course options.

Middle Eastern eateries are also great places to share with a large party. If a large group orders hummus, baba ganouge, grape leaves and fattoush (or one of the many other options), each person can sample a ton of food without breaking the bank.

Sahara Grille is a nice addition to this area. It should do a good job keeping Stark county vegetarians happy and healthy.